Ducati Panigale R World Superbike for the road

The new Ducati Panigale R is about as close as you will ever get to riding a World Superbike on the road.

Ducati Australia says the Paginale R will cost $45,990 plus on-road costs and customers are already placing deposits for the bike which arrives in August.

The Panigale R has been homologated for WSBK, but it’s not the 1299 Panigale with the1285cc L-twin engine; it still has the 1198cc Superquadro L-twin so it stays within the World Superbike engine capacity specifications.

Ducati Panigale R and WSBK models

However, it’s not far short of the race bike with 153kW (205bhp) at 11,500rpm and 136Nm at 10,250rpm compared with the WSBK race bike with 157kW (210bhp) at the crank.

It’s also 184kg, which is only 16kg heavier than the race bike.

That’s largely thanks to the weight saving in the engine which comes with titanium intake and exhaust valves, titanium con-rods, two-ring pistons and lightweight crankshaft balanced with tungsten inserts.

Ducati has also upgraded the Panigale R’s electronics by adding Cornering ABS, Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) and Ducati Wheelie Control (DWC). They have also updated the Ducati Quick Shift (DQS) to include downshifts and added automatic calibration to the traction control, wheelie control and engine braking control for easier tyre-size changes and final-drive ratio modifications.